A visibly shaken Mr Bouffier recalled that Mr Schaefer, who was Hesse’s finance chief for 10 years, had been working “day and night” to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.

“Today, we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” said Mr Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Schäfer was a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU). He had been active in Hessian state politics for more than two decades and was finance minister for almost 10 years.

Germany’s financial capital, Frankfurt, lies in Hesse and is the state’s biggest city.